Social distancing and children – narrowing our social network

Schools and sports clubs are organising their arrangements to comply with government instructions on restrictions for school activities and gatherings, including limits on numbers, space requirements and the use of face coverings. It is important that parents and guardians simultaneously reduce the number of people in their children's social networks outside of school hours, so as not to undermine these measures. 

It is good to bear the following in mind:

• Schoolmates who are not in the same group for school activities should not be in close contact outside of school.
• If children are mature enough to follow instructions regarding minimal contact with friends, they can meet for games. The games must not involve direct contact, the use of shared toys or equipment that is touched with bare hands.
• Children and young people should always wash their hands thoroughly, both before they meet their friends and after they get home.
• Families should bear in mind that if children socialise a lot with friends or cousins from other schools or school groups, a connection is created between groups that would otherwise be separate. This should be avoided as much as possible.
• Families are encouraged to use technology to stay in touch with loved ones who are in at-risk groups due to COVID-19 infections, the elderly, and people with certain underlying health conditions.
• It would also be possible to use the opportunity to teach the children how to write letters and, in the process, practise their handwriting and spelling, as well as to use their imagination and think of solutions when communicating with our loved ones.

Regarding households with children where some people are in quarantine and others are not:

• If the children lack the maturity or ability to follow the measures required for a member of the household to be in quarantine, the entire household must quarantine, or those not in quarantine must leave as soon as the quarantine begins. It may be possible for one parent to be in quarantine with a child while the other parent maintains a distance. A parent with a child in quarantine does not need to be registered for quarantine and does not need to get tested to shorten the quarantine from 14 to 7 days. It is sufficient for the child to be registered for quarantine and to be tested. This applies, for example, to children in quarantine.
• Children who are mature and able to manage their own personal hygiene (e.g. use the toilet independently) and maintain a suitable distance from parents (or others) who are in quarantine, as well as from their classmates, can continue to attend school. For example, if a parent is in quarantine, a younger sibling might need to be in quarantine as well, but an older sibling might not.
• Parents of school-aged children in quarantine after an exposure at school or in extracurricular activities who can maintain appropriate distance from their children during the quarantine period may continue to work at their workplace if remote working is not possible.